


Tattoos

by orphan_account



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: Childe & Sire Interactions, Cute, Drabble, Ficlet, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 10:57:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17579549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "You have atattoo?"Angel doesn't approve of Spike's tattoo.





	Tattoos

**Author's Note:**

> In this fic - Angel does not have a tattoo.

.

“You have a _tattoo_?” Gunn blinked at the tone, suddenly feeling seven years old and under his old gang-leader’s wrath, and it hadn’t even been directed at him.

“Yeah,” Spike drawled slowly, raising an eyebrow, “And?”

“A tattoo.” Angel repeated, emphasising each ‘t’ in the word.

Wesley leant forward, intrigued despite his early annoyance that their previous conversation had changed from demonic activity to Spike’s tattoo, “How has it remained even when the skin healed?” He asked, “Is it mystical – ?”

“When the hell did you even get it?” Angel cut him off, his face dark with disapproval.

“1909.” Spike folded his arms across his chest, defensive now.

Angel glared at him, “So, you were barely over a fledging and you decided to go and get a tat _too.”_

“What the hell does my age have to with it?” Spike demanded, “I saw a design, I liked it, I got it. End of story. Now can we get back to Wesley’s demons?”

“Yes,” Wesley said, “I think that might be – ”

“No.” Angel spoke over him yet again, “I’m not letting this go that easily. You knew you could live for years and years and that tattoos are permanent but you still got one? You’ll have this – _thing_ on you for life now. Do you get that?”

“Got it when I bought it, you prick.” Spike snapped.

“It’s probably not even that bad,” Gunn said, hating how he sounded with his placating but at least he could try to nip this in the bud before they started yelling at each other again, “Can I see?”

Spike glanced at him and then at Angel before shrugging, “Sure.” He lifted his shirt up and hooked his thumb into the waistband of his pants, pulling them down slightly to show the black design that he had over his hip. It was a curled and detailed engraving of a letter he vaguely recognised, bordered by a thin line of red that acted as a shadow for the black.

“What’s it mean?” He asked just as Wesley came around to have a look as well but Spike yanked his shirt back down before he could.

“Can’t remember,” He said, “I just like the design.”

Angel’s anger seemed to reach an inhuman level at that because it wasn’t often he growled in front of them, “You got a tattoo and you can’t even remember what the hell it _means?”_

“Oh sod off, Angel,” Spike rolled his eyes, “If we’re not going to discuss these demons, then I’m going.” He pushed himself off of the wall that he’d been leaning on and went for the door. Angel moved faster however and barred his way.

“Go where?” He asked.

“Out.” Spike pushed him back a step, “And that’s all you’re privy to knowing. You’re not my dad Angel, stop trying to – ”

“I’m your GrandSire.” Angel said, “That gives me the right to know your whereabouts.”

Spike shoved him again, “You lost that right over eighty years ago. Now get the hell out of my way.”

Gunn braced for a fight when they stared each other down, rolling his eyes until eventually, thankfully, Angel stepped aside and let Spike leave the office.

“Gunn.” His relief vanished when he was snapped at instead however, “What did his tattoo look like? Draw a picture.”

“Uh – ”

“Angel.” Wesley stepped toward him, “I understand your worry but Lindsey’s tattoos were rare and I highly doubt Spike will attempt the same.”

“I don’t care about Lindsey’s symbols - they were for the Senior Partners not me.” Angel told him, grabbing a pencil and a pad of paper and shoving them into Gunn’s hands, “I just want to know what the hell kind of design was so important that Spike thought he should print it onto his skin.”

Raising his eyebrows at Wesley, Gunn took the paper and tried to sketch the letter as best he could from memory. It was barely similar and a terrible copy but Angel seemed satisfied and showed it to Wesley for translation.

“It … looks Gryvian.” He said, “Though, no one ever really speaks it anymore.”

“No one speaks Latin anymore but people get tattoos in it.” Angel countered and Wesley lifted a hand to appease him, getting one of the language books out and whispering ‘Gryvian codex’ into its cover. He flipped through the pages whilst Angel paced.

“Hey Angel,” Gunn tried to stop him, “What’s the big deal here? I mean, unless you think Spike has some curse tattooed on his skin, does it really matter?”

Angel rounded on him, “You had a kid sister. Right?” He asked and Gunn blinked, nodding. Realising how insensitive that had been, Angel backed off a little and softened his voice, “I just – if she’d come home one day, with a tattoo. Would you have approved?”

Gunn frowned, “The life we led, a tattoo would have been the least of our problems.” He said, “And I would have been happy her coming home regardless.”

Angel winced, turning away, “I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned – ”

“It’s okay.” It wasn't but they could deal with that later, "Is that what this is? You don't approve?"

"Of course I don't approve," Angel huffed, "It's tacky. And I know he only got it because of that whole 'punk' thing and because he knew I'd hate it."

"But why?"

"Because he lives to piss me off."

Gunn snorted, "No. I mean why would you hate it?"

"Oh. Because it's common," Angel made a face, "And it's a fad. And childish. And - god I don't know. I just don't like them."

"Then don't get one." Gunn said, matter-of-factly, and Angel laughed softly.

"Believe me. I won't."

"Okay so good. You don't like them, you won't get one. Spike likes them, he's got one. No big deal."

Immediately, Angel's amusement left, "It _is_ a big deal, Gunn," He said, "I mind it. It's permanent and he was a part of the Four then and he didn't even think to ask for my - " He stopped, freezing.

"Your permission?" Gunn finished for him and he watched as Angel put a hand to his forehead and gaped at nothing.

"Oh no. Oh this is bad." He said, "This is really bad."

"What's bad?" Wesley asked, joining them again, "Have I missed something?"

"I'm as lost as you." Gunn let him know.

Angel turned on them both, his eyes wide, "I'm acting like his _Sire."_ He exclaimed, his gesture and tone emphasising his shock but the both of them simply looked at each other.

"Well. Yeah." Gunn agreed and Angel took a step back, "If acting like his Sire means acting like his _dad_ , I'd say so."

"Oh God." Angel sat over the edge of his desk, looking a little sick, "This is exactly why I didn't want him around." He visibly realised they were both still confused and glanced up at them, "I'm caring about him." He explained.

"And that's ... bad?"

"No it's not bad, obviously," He sighed, "But it's not good. I just - have you any idea what he could get away with if he knows I care about him?"

"Because he's been completely professional thus far." Wesley raised an eyebrow and Angel made a strange noise at that, a cross between a laugh and a scoff.

"Oh no, it'll be worse than that. He could walk all over me if he wanted and he'll know it hurts because I'm going to care and he won't." He jabbed a finger toward them, "And that's what he wanted. That's why he stayed. He wanted to get under my skin again and now he has, now he's back under my arm, and whenever he's feeling particularly pissy he'll taunt me with this."

Gunn stared at him for a moment, "Okay. You two really need to get over this shit. Seriously."

"It's not that - "

"And Angel," Wesley stopped him from responding to that, holding the book he had in his hands open for him to see, "I wouldn't be so sure about this being so one-sided." Angel looked at him, "Spike's tattoo? It means Aurelius."

For a moment, it looked as though he was completely frozen but then without warning, he snatched the book up and read over the page at a speed academics would be envious of, "What? Are you sure?"

"Yes. It refers to the Order Spike and you were a part of. It may be why he hid it from me as well," He smiled a little, "He didn't want you to know."

Angel looked up at him, frowning, "Why not?"

Giving him a long look, Wesley gestured toward how tightly Angel was holding the pages, "Because it would show that he cares?"

"That's - no. The Order was important to both of us, the tattoo would be for that. Not me."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Wesley said, "If he wanted the order, the sun and stars symbol would have been enough. And I did a little reading alongside this as well, during your little Sire realisation. A Vampire must get their tattoo redone every thirty years." He turned to Gunn, "Did it look faded?"

"Nope." He grinned, watching Angel's face switch from shock to disbelief to something soft.

"And wasn't your name inspired by Aurelius?" Wesley clarified.

"It was another version of his name, yeah," Angel nodded, slowly standing up and handing the book back over. He looked lost for a moment before smiling, "So his tattoo's my name?"

Wesley blinked, "Well. So to speak. Yes."

"Huh."

"Not so tacky now, is it?" Gunn folded his arms across his chest, still grinning, and Angel just met his gaze with his own smile still fixed as well.

Wesley cut the moment however, putting the book down, "Well. Now that that's over, shall we get back to the demonic activity reported near the _Groves?"_

Gunn nodded, returning to his seat by the table and Angel joined them, sitting at the head. Halfway through Wesley's talk however, it was clear he wasn't listening.

"His tattoo's my name," He told them, as though it was news and they'd been absent from the entire exchange.

"Yes Angel. We know." Wesley sighed and packed everything up, "Gunn and I will go scope where these demons have been seen. We'll report back later."

"Okay." Angel nodded happily, "I'll just - " He paused, tilting his face up, "I might think up a design for my new tattoo." 

.

**Author's Note:**

> I was super bored and just thought, you know what, there's too much angst in Season 5 of Angel okay!


End file.
